Atlanta, Boulder, Sin and Hope
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My dear Siblings in Christ Jesus,
“Sin is the seeking of our own will instead of the will of God, thus distorting our relationship with God, with other people, and with all creation.” – “The Catechism” in The Book of Common Prayer, page 848.
The reality of human sin has been brought home again with the murders in Atlanta and Boulder. These are horrific acts. With anti-Asian rhetoric and violence, the riots last year in some cities, and the insurrection at the Capitol Building in January, we have been given stark reminders of the human sin. It seems that the language of hate and acts of violence are now just part of living in the United States. The murder of innocent people by individuals with assault weapons has become common place. Such sin is both corporate and individual.
In my years as Bishop, I have had to, all too often, preach and write in the aftermath of gun violence, and in response to hate speech and racist attacks. As Christians, we know that words and deeds go together. The normalization of anger, hate, and fear leads to hurtful words and violence.
As the followers of Christ, what are we to do?
I think it natural to grieve. The reality of all human suffering is our suffering. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote (in Letters and Papers in Prison): “We must learn to regard people less in the light of what they do or omit to do, and more in the light of what they suffer.” Compassion is basic to our faith. “May the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ be blessed! He is the compassionate Father and God of all comfort. He’s the one who comforts us in all our trouble so that we can comfort other people who are in every kind of trouble. We offer the same comfort that we ourselves received from God. That is because we receive so much comfort through Christ in the same way that we share so many of Christ’s sufferings.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-5) Yet again, after Atlanta and Boulder, we are left in sadness and called to comfort one another. We must not lose our compassion in which we share in the suffering of others.
And then what?
As Episcopalians, I think we can turn to the reminders of our way of life in the Baptismal Covenant. Remember the five practical affirmations in the Baptismal Covenant (The Book of Common Prayer, pages 304-305). You’ll remember that they come just after the theological affirmations in the words of the Apostles’ Creed. We answer the practical questions with the answer: “I will, with God’s help.” We must consider what we are affirming in light of the painful events of our time. What do we promise?
First, we promise “to continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in the prayers”. Our faith in Christ is experienced, nurtured and shared in community – the Church. It happens through Scripture with the stories of God, Christ Jesus and the people of faith, the Sacraments, prayer, and the gathering itself. One cannot be a Christ follower without others. In fact, it is through and with the community that we come to know and experience the life of the risen Christ. In this limited and broken humanity, we need one another in the Church. In times of crisis and in the wake of evil, the community, Scripture and prayer sustain us.
Second, we promise to “persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever, you [I] fall into sin, repent, and return to the Lord”. We don’t stop being limited and sinful at our Baptism. We are still on our way. Being nurtured in the loving fellowship of Christ and through Scripture and prayer, we know when we blow it. We seek forgiveness and, more importantly, a changed life and a “new creation” (see 2 Corinthians 5:17: “So then, if anyone is in Christ, that person is part of the new creation. The old things have gone away, and look, new things have arrived!”). In the language of the absolution in the Penitential Order I (The Book of Common Prayer, page 321), we seek genuine change: “The Almighty and merciful Lord grant you absolution and remission of all your sins, true repentance, amendment of life, and the grace and consolation of his Holy Spirit. Amen.”
The need for reflection, repentance and amendment of life is a corporate reality as well as an individual one. Systemic racism, greed and violence have societal causes and corporate ramifications. Individuals are harmed and do the harm, but the environment and the culture add to the evil. We look to ourselves, others and society as a whole.
That leads us to the third practical affirmation when we promise to “proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ.” Do we truly believe that we are a “new creation” in Christ Jesus? I often think this is the key question in the Baptismal Covenant because this connects to what we profess to how we live in ordinary times. As the Letter of James (2:18) notes: “Someone might claim, ‘You have faith and I have action.’ But how can I see your faith apart from your actions? Instead, I’ll show you my faith by putting it into practice in faithful action.” It is often in the ordinary that we can forget who we are as Christ believers. This is grounded in the basic belief that God loves me. With Paul (Romans 8:38-39), we can the affirm that God’s love changes the way we engage life: “I’m convinced that nothing can separate us from God’s love in Christ Jesus our Lord: not death or life, not angels or rulers, not present things or future things, not powers or height or depth, or any other thing that is created.”
That in turn changes how we care for other people. As we promise in the fourth practical affirmation, we will “seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your [my] neighbor as yourself [myself]”. We know from Jesus’ parable of the “Good Samaritan” (Luke 10:25-37) that “neighbor” means everyone. The difficulty here is that the victims of the shooting and the perpetrators are by definition “our neighbors.” The hateful and the hated are God’s children. I found a sermon from Martin Luther King, Jr., to be most helpful in this regard ("Loving Your Enemies," Sermon Delivered at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, on November 17, 1957):
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There’s another reason why you should love your enemies, and that is because hate distorts the personality of the hater. We usually think of what hate does for the individual hated or the individuals hated or the groups hated. But it is even more tragic, it is even more ruinous and injurious to the individual who hates. You just begin hating somebody, and you will begin to do irrational things. You can’t see straight when you hate. You can’t walk straight when you hate. You can’t stand upright. Your vision is distorted. There is nothing more tragic than to see an individual whose heart is filled with hate. He comes to the point that he becomes a pathological case. For the person who hates, you can stand up and see a person and that person can be beautiful, and you will call them ugly. For the person who hates, the beautiful becomes ugly and the ugly becomes beautiful. For the person who hates, the good becomes bad and the bad becomes good. For the person who hates, the true becomes false and the false becomes true. That’s what hate does. You can’t see right. The symbol of objectivity is lost. Hate destroys the very structure of the personality of the hater.
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We are called to refuse to have enemies – to refuse to hate. As King went on to say in this sermon: “Now there is a final reason I think that Jesus says, ‘Love your enemies.’ It is this: that love has within it a redemptive power. And there is a power there that eventually transforms individuals. That’s why Jesus says, ‘Love your enemies.’ Because if you hate your enemies, you have no way to redeem and to transform your enemies. But if you love your enemies, you will discover that at the very root of love is the power of redemption.” Now, others may not understand or appreciate what the call to radical love means, but it is the way of Christ Jesus. Jesus reminds us that “[t]hey are blessed who are persecuted for doing good, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.” (Matthew 5:10) It is the price of truly living as if everyone – even the person who most upsets us and even has harmed us – is our neighbor.
And, so lastly, we affirm that we will “strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.” We are declaring that as Christians and as citizens of a democratic republic we will be involved. To love our neighbor demands that we try to overturn the unjust structures of society. Yes, this means we challenge racism, sexism, homophobia and the culture of violence in the world, in the Church and in ourselves. This must compel us to political action and even, at times, non-violent civil disobedience. All political and societal engagement must be grounded in our faith and our vision of the reign of God with justice, love and peace. Our response to the problems of society is ultimately about our love of God in Christ Jesus.
In a difficult passage from Matthew’s Gospel (Matthew 26:11) just before Jesus’ betrayal and the Passover meal, he says, “You always have the poor with you, but you won’t always have me”. The conditions of this finite and hurt world often lead to avarice, hate, fear, and violence. We continue to live in the unfulfilled promise of the reign of God. Yet, in Christ, we have an experience of the living presence of a loving God. Though the poor are with us, we are also compelled out of love to care for them as if Christ himself is with us (see Matthew 25:31-46). The final affirmation of the Baptismal Covenant calls us to the world as it will be in the fulness of God and when we can sing with Blessed Mary, the Mother of God (Luke 1:46-55):
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With all my heart I glorify the Lord!
In the depths of who I am I rejoice in God my savior.
He has looked with favor on the low status of his servant.
Look! From now on, everyone will consider me highly favored
because the mighty one has done great things for me.
Holy is his name.
He shows mercy to everyone,
from one generation to the next,
who honors him as God.
He has shown strength with his arm.
He has scattered those with arrogant thoughts and proud inclinations.
He has pulled the powerful down from their thrones
and lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away empty-handed.
He has come to the aid of his servant Israel,
remembering his mercy,
just as he promised to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to Abraham’s descendants forever.
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But like Mary at the foot of the cross, on days of tragedy and violence, we still cry and mourn. We then seek the Holy Spirit to change us, to bring forgiveness and to strengthen us to work again for the world as it should be basking in the light of a loving, healing, just, and redeeming God.
I began this message with a bit of the Catechism on sin. I conclude with the words from the Catechism (page 849) about our hope: “The Messiah is one sent by God to free us from the power of sin, so that with the help of God we may live in harmony with God, within ourselves, with our neighbors, and with all creation. The Messiah, or Christ, is Jesus of Nazareth, the only Son of God.”
Though I know many of us are still separated by the pandemic, I pray that you have a blessed Holy Week and joy filled Easter.
This is sent with my blessing and love.
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Yours faithfully,
+Bob
The Right Reverend Robert L. Fitzpatrick, Bishop
The Episcopal Diocese of Hawai'i
Bishop-in-Charge
The Episcopal Church in Micronesia
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Contact Information
Sybil Nishioka, Editor & Communications Contractor
The Episcopal Diocese of Hawai'i
229 Queen Emma Square, Honolulu, HI 96813
(808) 536-7776
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